Ask Billboard: What Are Your Favorites Of 2012?

Submitted by admin on Mon, 2012-12-17 11:05

Chart Beat readers: now's your chance to share your top hits of 2012 in the next 'Ask Billboard' mailbag. Just e-mail askbb@billboard.com.

As always, submit your questions about Billboard charts, sales and airplay, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the U.S. Or, Tweet questions to Gary Trust: As always, submit your questions about Billboard charts, sales and airplay, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the U.S. Or, Tweet questions to Gary Trust:As always, submit your questions about Billboard charts, sales and airplay, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the U.S. Or, Tweet questions to Gary Trust: As always, submit your questions about Billboard charts, sales and airplay, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the U.S. Or, Tweet questions to Gary Trust: @gthot20[1]

BRAXTON FAMILY HITS

Hi Gary,

I'm thrilled to see Toni Braxton[2]'s sister Tamar Braxton[3] have a hit of her own with "Love and War," the Hot 100's top debut this past week at No. 57.

The song is amazing and, in my opinion, the best R&B song to come out in years, especially since pure R&B songs of that nature are rarer these days. It brings back memories of what R&B songs used to sound like in the '90s and early 2000s, and not just because her voice sounds similar to Toni's.

I really hope that "Love and War" can continue to be a hit long into the year 2013.

Jesper Tan Subang Jaya, Malaysia

Hi Jesper,

Tamar Braxton is back after 13 years, as her R&B chart history dates to 1999, when she (then billed as just Tamar) sent "Get None," featuring Jermaine Dupri and Amil, onto R&B/Hip-Hop Songs; it reached a No. 59 peak. That timespan and two reality television shows later - WEtv's "Braxton Family Values" and "Tamar & Vince" - she enters the Hot 100, as well as R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (No. 12) and Heatseekers Songs (No. 1). "War" starts at No. 3 on R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Songs with 84,000 downloads sold in its first week of availability, according to Nielsen SoundScan. On the Adult R&B airplay chart released this morning (to be updated on Billboard.biz on Thursday), it roars in at No. 18.

Key to the song's strong start? Lady Gaga helped via a Twitter endorsement[4] to her more than 32 million little monster followers. "K I NEVER PROMOTE ARTISTS but if u want your mind blown check @tamarbraxtonher "Love & War" She's Toni Braxton sister + her voice is BEYOND," she beamed.

"Love and War" serves as the title cut to the follow-up to Braxton's 2000 self-titled debut, "Tamar." The new set arrives on Feb. 13[5].

Seems like a good time to remember just how much chart success Toni Braxton has achieved, too (as she battles Lupus-related health issues[6]). Of her 13 Hot 100 hits, six reached the top 10, including two No. 1s in 1996: "You're Makin' Me High"/"Let It Flow" (one week) and "Unbreak My Heart" (11 weeks). Hits like "Another Sad Love Song" (No. 7, 1993), "Breathe Again" (No. 3, 1994) and "You Mean the World to Me" (No. 7, 1994) have also enjoyed long AC afterlives. The three songs appear on her self-titled debut album, which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 1994 amid a 96-week chart run.

That set has sold 5.2 million copies in the U.S., according to SoundScan, contributing to her career sales of 15.1 million.